When I wrote A Girl and Her Heart, I was listening. Finally. To the still small voice that was fighting through all my noise and hurts and was asking me if I really believed I was enough.

And here again, on the most beautiful of mornings, with incredible things to celebrate like, oh you know, LIFE and BIRTHDAYS and BOOKS, I have to pause and hear that voice again. Because it’s still saying the same thing. Do I really believe I am enough? It’s tricky, the more you put a message into the world, the more you have to fight to believe it.

Because there are just so. many. other. voices. And they tell us that we need to BE … something. Something more. Something else. Something ‘better.’ Something _______. It’s an ever-moving target.

Last month I had breakfast with a very successful and well-respected Attorney here in Orange County. He was telling me a story of an earlier ‘failure’ in his career. He started to say, “I’m embarrassed to tell you this …” and then stopped himself and said (“No, I’m not embarrassed. That’s not my name. I’m Mark, the Beloved.”) as if in a parenthetical.

At the time, I thought it was kind of a corny exercise – especially to do out loud. In front of a stranger.

I’ve been doing it ever since.

Because oh my goodness, THAT is the word the Father’s voice is speaking. And it already tells us exactly what we need to be. Be loved. Because you are. Without anything extra. Without anything you can add or do. You are so, so loved. Because I am. I am so, so loved. Without being something else, something more, something ___________________. We are BELOVED.

And we need to hear it over and over again. And sometimes, we need to hear our own voice repeating this truth. Out loud. No matter how corny it might feel.

We need to practice this Big Truth and preach it to ourselves, even if it sounds silly: “No, I’m not Brooke the Author/Wife/Friend/Boss. I’m Brooke the Beloved.”

I’m not ________, the Athlete, I’m the Beloved.

I’m not ___________, the Straight-A student, I’m the Beloved.

I’m not __________, the Mom. I’m the Beloved.

So participating in today’s giveaway is going to be a bit harder than the rest – a bit more risky, a bit more vulnerable, and a lot more powerful: It will mean being this voice to each other and to ourselves. Practice telling yourself that you are already enough. You are ______, the BELOVED.

I’ll be practicing and preaching right along with you.

And also, I think giveaway competitions can be kind of corny too. But I’m trying them this week because they are a tool, and because I want to get this message to as many big and little hearts as possible. And because I want a way to say THANK YOU to everyone who’s helping spread it. So in that spirit, here’s how to enter TODAY’S GIVEAWAY:

• Share this Big Truth on your Facebook or Instagram. You can use this image or a selfie.
• Use this caption or something like it: “In a world with so many competing voices, I’m listening to the One that tells me the Truth: that I am enough. That I am the Beloved.”
• Use the hashtags #iamenough #iambeloved #agirlandherheartbook
• Tag girls who you want to tell: YOU ARE ENOUGH. YOU ARE BELOVED. One extra entry for every friend you tag – and when you tag them, they are automatically entered to win too.

Entries close at 9pm (pst) tonight because … vacation. And now, I’m going hiking.